Linus Torvalds Quotes (59 Quotes)

Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.

I was going to start with a lawyer joke, but I'm told it was already done yesterday,

I like to think that I've been a good manager. That fact has been very instrumental in making Linux a successful product.

There are lots of Linux users who don't care how the kernel works, but only want to use it. That is a tribute to how good Linux is.

When you say "I wrote a program that crashed Windows," people just stare at you blankly and say "Hey, I got those with the system, for free."

I think a lot of people may find that the GPLv3 'anti-DRM' measures aren't all that wonderful after all. Digital signatures and cryptography aren't just 'bad DRM.' They very much are 'good security' too.

The Linux philosophy is 'Laugh in the face of danger'. Oops. Wrong One. 'Do it yourself'. Yes, that's it.

I don't expect to go hungry if I decide to leave the University. Resume: Linux looks pretty good in many places.

The thing with Linux is that the developers themselves are actually customers too: that has always been an important part of Linux.

When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver.

People will realize that software is not a product you use it to build a product,

Finnish companies tend to be very traditional, not taking many risks. Silicon Valley is completely different: people here really live on the edge.

I've been employed by the University of Helsinki, and they've been perfectly happy to keep me employed and doing Linux.

Now, most of you are probably going to be totally bored out of your minds on Christmas day, and here's the perfect distraction. Test 2.6.15-rc7. All the stores will be closed, and there's really nothing better to do in between meals.

I've been very happy with the commercial Linux CD-ROM vendors linux Red Hat.

I'm generally a very pragmatic person: that which works, works.

In my opinion MS is a lot better at making money than it is at making good operating systems.

I don't expect the desktop to come quickly. It will take time,

The fame and reputation part came later, and never was much of a motivator, although it did enable me to work without feeling guilty about neglecting my studies.

The primary issue is just to make people comfortable with Linux.

Helsinki isn't all that bad. It's a very nice city, and it's cold really only in wintertime.

I've never regretted not making Linux shareware: I really don't like the pay for use binary shareware programs.

People enjoy the interaction on the Internet, and the feeling of belonging to a group that does something interesting: that's how some software projects are born.

Linux has definitely made a lot of sense even in a purely materialistic sense.

If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.

Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.

Programmers are in the enviable position of not only getting to do what they want to, but because the end result is so important they get paid to do it. There are other professions like that, but not that many.

Shareware tends to combine the worst of commercial software with the worst of free software.

I try to avoid long-range plans and visions - that way I can more easily deal with anything new that comes up.

I never felt that the naming issue was all that important, but I was obviously wrong, judging by how many people felt. I tell people to call it just plain Linux and nothing more.

The cyberspace earnings I get from Linux come in the format of having a Network of people that know me and trust me, and that I can depend on in return.

Helsinki may not be as cold as you make it out to be, but California is still a lot nicer. I don't remember the last time I couldn't walk around in shorts all day.

I do get my pizzas paid for by Linux indirectly.

Some people have told me they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen a angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100 mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they say if they had.

Artists usually don't make all that much money, and they often keep their artistic hobby despite the money rather than due to it.

Non-technical questions sometimes don't have an answer at all.

In many cases, the user interface to a program is the most important part for a commercial company: whether the programs works correctly or not seems to be secondary.

That's what makes Linux so good: you put in something, and that effort multiplies. It's a positive feedback cycle.

A consumer doesn't take anything away: he doesn't actually consume anything. Giving the same thing to a thousand consumers is not really any more expensive than giving it to just one.

Some people have been seen as freeloaders, selling Linux CDs and hardware and making money that way, ... But they're doing Linux a big favor by making it easier to install and approachable to normal people. It makes it a more viable OS.

Software patents are a huge potential threat to the ability of people to work together on open source. Making it easier for companies and communities that have patents to make those patents available in a common pool for people to use is one way to try to help developers deal with the threat.

Often your 'fixes' are actually removing capabilities that you had, because they were 'too confusing to the user'. GNOME seems to be developed by interface Nazis, where consistently the excuse for not doing something is not 'it's too complicated to do', but 'it would confuse users'.

The memory management on the PowerPC can be used to frighten small children.

Any program is only as good as it is useful.

Making Linux GPL'd was definitely the best thing I ever did.

Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems.

My name is Linus, and I am your God.

Before the commercial ventures, Linux tended to be rather hard to set up, because most of the developers were motivated mainly by their own interests.

The Linux kernel is under the GPL version 2. Not anything else. Some individual files are licensable under v3, but not the kernel in general. And quite frankly, I don't see that changing. I think it's insane to require people to make their private signing keys available, for example. I wouldn't do it. So I don't think the GPL v3 conversion is going to happen for the kernel, since I personally don't want to convert any of my code. You think v2 or later is the default. It's not. The default is to not allow conversion. Conversion isn't going to happen.

It probably was just a mistake on the part of some headhunter who just didn't know who (Raymond) was. It just makes it even harder for people to even approach the other side, when they then end up having to worry about public humiliation.